Articles

VANCOUVER -
The organization representing BC's university professors today released opinion
poll results indicating that two-thirds (67%) of British Columbians disagree with
the idea that an employer should have the right to decide the age of retirement
for their employees. The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British
Columbia (CUFA/BC) released the poll results two months after Premier Gordon
Campbell announced that his government will eliminate mandatory retirement.

"British Columbians want to decide
for themselves if and when they will retire and Premier Campbell has taken the
first step to make that happen," said Robert Clift, Executive Director of
CUFA/BC. "He now needs to press forward with the recommendations of his
advisors and end mandatory retirement quickly."

On December
1, 2006,
the Premier's Council on Aging and Seniors Issues released a wide-ranging
report on steps the BC Government should take to better serve older British
Columbians. The top recommendation in that report was that the Government
immediately end employment discrimination on the basis of age, thereby
eliminating mandatory retirement.

"Some groups have suggested that
British Columbians are willing to accept mandatory retirement in exchange for a
pension, but our polling found that was not the case," Clift said. "60% of
respondents disagreed with the idea that a person should have to retire at a
particular age in order to belong to a company pension plan."

CUFA/BC also found that respondents
in union households were more likely to oppose mandatory retirement.

"There are about 17,000 British
Columbians aged 65 and in the workforce that will be forced to retire this year
if the Government doesn't move quickly," Clift said. "When the Legislature
reconvenes in two weeks, British Columbians expect to see the necessary changes
made to the Human Rights Act."

The poll of 503 BC adults was
conducted for CUFA/BC by the Mustel Group between January 3rd and 10th. The margin of error is +/-
4.5% for the total sample and +/- 8.6% for the union households sample. The
results are considered reliable 19 times out of 20. More information is
available at the website, www.AbilityNotAge.ca